diff --git a/learning_resources/site_scrapers/utils.py b/learning_resources/site_scrapers/utils.py
index 102ba88dae..ff6fabbe18 100644
--- a/learning_resources/site_scrapers/utils.py
+++ b/learning_resources/site_scrapers/utils.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 
 def scraper_for_site(url):
+    url = url.replace("http://", "https://")
     for pattern in SITE_SCRAPER_MAP:
         if re.search(pattern, url):
             return SITE_SCRAPER_MAP[pattern](url)
diff --git a/learning_resources/site_scrapers/utils_test.py b/learning_resources/site_scrapers/utils_test.py
index 181f963d0a..f15d8688a7 100644
--- a/learning_resources/site_scrapers/utils_test.py
+++ b/learning_resources/site_scrapers/utils_test.py
@@ -29,3 +29,22 @@ def test_scraper_for_site(mocker, url, expected_scraper_class):
 
     scraper = scraper_for_site(url)
     assert isinstance(scraper, expected_scraper_class)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "url",
+    [
+        "http://example.com",
+        "http://micromasters.mit.edu/ds/",
+        "http://unknownsite.com",
+        "http://executive.mit.edu/course/innovation-executive-academy/a05U1000005l8nFIAQ.html",
+    ],
+)
+def test_scraper_forces_https(mocker, url):
+    """
+    Test that the scraper class forces https for the start url
+    """
+
+    scraper = scraper_for_site(url)
+    assert "http://" not in scraper.start_url
+    assert "https://" in scraper.start_url